Journalism alumna named to FASPE

Katrina Clarke, MA’13 (Journalism), currently a reporter at the Toronto Star, is one of 12 journalism students and young journalists chosen by Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics (FASPE) to participate in a two-week program in Europe this summer, which uses the conduct of reporters and other media professionals in Nazi Germany as a launching point for an intensive course of study on contemporary journalism ethics.

Now in its seventh year of operation, FASPE is an international program for students in five professional disciplines (business, journalism, law, medicine and religion) designed to address contemporary ethical issues in their chosen fields through a unique historical lens.

FASPE is predicated upon the power of place, and in particular, the first-hand experience of visiting Auschwitz and other historic sites associated with the Holocaust, where fellows consider how to apply the lessons of history to the ethical challenges they will confront in their professions.

The 2016 FASPE Journalism program will be led by Ari Goldman, Professor and Director of the Scripps Howard Program in Religion, Journalism, and the Spiritual Life at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism; and Lonnie Isabel, Senior Lecturer at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and the former deputy managing editor of Newsday.

“FASPE is a once in a lifetime opportunity to study issues of journalism ethics against the backdrop of journalistic failures during the Holocaust,” Clarke said. “I’m most looking forward to meeting fellow journalists, debating tough ethical issues, speaking with Holocaust survivors and absorbing lessons that I’ll carry with me for the rest of my career. I expect this to be a life changing experience.”

Prior to joining the Toronto Star, Clarke worked for the Bangkok Post in Thailand and the National Post in Canada. She joins a group of 63 FASPE Fellows chosen through a competitive process that drew more than 700 applicants from around the world.